Nicht das Walpurgisfeuer :-)

Zur Walpurgisnacht (nicht zu verwechseln mit meiner Beltainefeier, die kommt noch) war ich mal wieder in der Eifel auf Burg Satzvey.

Der Graf veranstaltete mal wieder die jährliche Hexennacht mit Hexenmarkt und dem (Zitat) "größten Walpurgisfeuer des Rheinlandes". So waren die Höfe und der Park der Burg voll mit Buden und Zelten, SaltatioMortis und andere sorgten für das richtige musikalische Gefühl.

Die zahlreichen Besucher waren vielfach dem Anlass entsprechend gekleidet: Umhänge, spitze Hüte, Teufelshörner und Zauberstäbe standen hoch im Kurs und auch die allgegenwärtigen schwarzen Ledermäntel und historischen Gewandungen der üblichen Mittelaltermarktbesucher waren überall zu sehen.

Höhepunkt der Nacht war das große, sicher mehr als sechs Meter durchmessende Walpurgisfeuer, das Schlag Mitternacht auf der großen Wiese entzündet wurde. Kaum loderten die ersten Flammen liefen schon die ersten Tänzer (darunter ein "ganz besonders schwarzes Schaf" und ich) ihre Kreise. Je heller und heißer es wurde, um so mehr Leute reihten sich ein und ließen ihre Energien fließen. Schließlich wurde es so voll und unbeweglich - als auch andere in der kalten Eifelnacht die wärme des Feuers suchten - dass wir Tänzer zu nah an die Glut heran mussten. Und so ein großes Feuer strahlt ordentlich Hitze aus...

Die Walpurgisnacht (benannt nach der Heiligen Walburga, deren Gedenktag am 1. Mai war) ist ein traditionelles europäisches Fest am 30. April. Als Tanz in den Mai hat es wegen der Gelegenheit zu Tanz und Geselligkeit am Vorabend des Maifeiertags auch als urbanes, modernes Festereignis Eingang in private und kommerzielle Veranstaltungen gefunden. (Quelle: Wikipedia)

In vielen Bundesländern heißt die Walpurgisnacht auch Hexennacht!

WIKIPEDIA describes it like this ( I will keep all the links):

Walpurgis Night is a holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1, in large parts of Central and Northern Europe.^[1]

Origins

The festival is named after Saint Walpurga, born in Wessex in 710. She was a niece of Saint Boniface and, according to legend, a daughter of the Saxon prince St. Richard. Together with her brothers she travelled to Franconia, Germany, where she became a nun and lived in the convent of Heidenheim, which was founded by her brother Willibald. Walpurga died on 25 February 779. She is therefore listed in the Roman Martyrology under 25 February. Her relics were transferred on 1 May, and that day carries her name in, for example, the Finnish and Swedish calendar.^{[2] [3]}

Historically the Walpurgisnacht is derived from Pagan spring customs. In the Norse tradition, Walpurgisnacht is considered the "Enclosure of the Fallen".^[4] It commemorates the time when Odin died to retrieve the knowledge of the runes, and the night is said to be a time of weakness between the living and the dead. Bonfires were built to keep away the dead and chaotic spirits that were said to walk among the living then.^[5] This is followed by the return of light and the sun as celebrated during May Day. Due to Walpurga's holy day falling on the same day, her name became associated with the celebrations. Early Christianity had a policy of 'Christianising' pagan festivals so it is no accident that St. Walpurga's day was set to May 1st. Walpurga was honored in the same way that Vikings had celebrated spring and as they spread throughout Europe, the two dates became mixed together and created the Walpurgis Night celebration.

Germany

In Germany, Walpurgisnacht (or Hexennacht, meaning Witches' Night), the night from April 30 to May 1, is the night when allegedly the witches hold a large celebration on the Blocksberg and await the arrival of Spring.

Walpurgis Night (in German folklore) the night of April 30 (May Day's eve), when witches meet on the Brocken mountain and hold revels with their gods..."

Brocken is the highest of the Harz Mountains of north central Germany. It is noted for the phenomenon of the Brocken spectre and for witches' revels which reputedly took place there on Walpurgis night.

The Brocken Spectre is a magnified shadow of an observer, typically surrounded by rainbow-like bands, thrown onto a bank of cloud in high mountain areas when the sun is low. The phenomenon was first reported on the Brocken.

—Taken from Oxford Phrase & Fable.

A scene in Goethe's Faust Part One is called "Walpurgisnacht", and one in Faust Part Two is called "Classical Walpurgisnacht".

In some parts of northern coastal regions of Germany, the custom of lighting huge Beltane fires is still kept alive, to celebrate the coming of May, while most parts of Germany have a derived Christianized custom around Easter called "Easter fires".